


Ragnarok Aftermath

by LuvBusters



Category: The Real Ghostbusters
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Romance/Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-07-29 00:29:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20073157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuvBusters/pseuds/LuvBusters
Summary: My take on what might have happened if Egon had admitted his feelings for Janine then instead of waiting.





	1. Chapter 1

The ride back to the Firehouse was a quiet one for Egon. While the others were joking around and laughing with each other enjoying the fact that they were still alive after the events of Ragnarok, Egon was reflecting on what he had realized in those last few moments: he was deeply in love with Janine. The problem is that he isn’t sure how or even if he should tell her. On one hand, he could not tell her; he could resist his feelings and bury them. His dad had taught him that love will bring him nothing but pain. On the other hand, he could tell her. They could then start what could be a very romantic and worthwhile relationship. It was no secret how she felt about him, but did her feelings for him run as deep? Or was it simple infatuation? He decided there was only one way to tell. The first thing he wanted to do without a doubt is hold Janine for as long as possible.

As Ecto-1 pulled into the garage, the guys were concerned that Janine was nowhere to be seen. Egon was the first out of the car. He ran upstairs, happy to see she had just been in the bathroom. He noticed she had a makeup compact in her hand, her eyes watery. 

“Janine, are you ok?!” He asked, placing his hands on her shoulders. He could feel her slightly trembling.

“Y-Yeah, I’m...fine,” she choked out the words. “I had gotten upset...worried about you guys...but when the power came back on, I saw the news coverage that you were ok.” She tried to smile, but tears streamed down her face. 

Egon’s heart broke at the sight of her being upset. “Please don’t cry; we’re all safe, everything is ok now.” He gently pulled her up to him, embracing her in a tight hug. 

She took a deep breath, then smiled, relaxing instantly into his arms. It felt so good to have his strong arms around her. It wasn’t Egon’s usual habit of hugging, but she wasn’t going to question it.

The rest of the guys came running up the stairs, glad to see that Janine was ok. Egon and Janine released each other. 

“Oh, good! Janine, you ok?” Winston asked. 

“We got worried when we didn’t see you downstairs,” Ray said.

Peter just smiled, noticing that they may have been interrupting a special moment. 

“Yeah, I was just a little shaken up; things got pretty scary around here, but that’s nothing compared to what you guys saw?” Janine said.

“We’ll tell you about it later,” Egon said. He led Janine to the rec room where they could all relax. 

Everyone gathered around the kitchen table. Winston handed out beers to Ray, Peter and one for himself; he gave Egon a canned soda. Janine had helped herself to Peter’s whiskey stash. The guys all gave her a worried look.

“What? Like you guys never have bad days?” She retorted. 

“Exactly how bad WAS your day?” Ray asked.

“Couldn’t be any worse than ours!” Winston said, turning up his beer.

“Yeah, it’s not every day we almost die to save the world!” Peter laughed. 

Janine nearly choked. “WHAT?!” 

“Yeah! We didn’t know of anything else to do to stop Jeremy except to set our packs on overload and self destruct!” Ray added. 

For a moment, they all thought Janine was going to pass out. Her face had paled, her hands shaking. 

“But obviously, it turned out that we didn’t have to and aborted the self destruct mechanism,” Egon said, placing a hand on hers. 

Janine shook her head, melting into another emotional upheaval. 

“Whoa!” Peter said, jumping up from his seat and sitting on the other side of Janine; Egon was sitting on the other side. “Hey there, take it easy,” he said softly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Seriously, we’re ok. I know things were bad all over, but everything’s been fixed. We all made it back ok. Jeremy and Cindy are together. Life’s good again.”

Janine slowly calmed down, wiping her eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s just...this one freaked me out.” She took a deep breath, then slid her chair back to get up. “Think I’m gonna head home.”

“Are you sure you should be driving?” Winston asked.

“Oh, I didn’t have that much whiskey; I’m fine,” Janine reassured them.

Egon stood and walked with her downstairs. 

Peter, Ray and Winston exchanged a look. 

“Is it me or is there something going on with our boy?” Winston asked with a devilish grin. 

Peter smirked. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Probably this whole near death experience,” Ray said. “Things like this can really make you question your own mortality. You know, make you realize what’s important in your life.”

“About damn time,” Winston said. 

“Yep, I’ll let them work this out,” Peter said. “But I’m gonna keep my eye on Janine. She might need some counseling. I’ll ask her later what happened around here to get her that wound up.”

Egon and Janine reached the bottom of the stairs. “Thanks, Egon. Today just kinda messed me up, ya know?”

He took her hand and squeezed it. “Janine, are you sure you’re going to be alright?”

She blushed, touched by his concern for her. “Yeah, I’m gonna be fine. I’ll go home, take a warm bath and slide into bed. I’ll see you guys in the morning.”

Egon pulled her into a tight hug. “Don’t hesitate to call if you need to talk,” he gently spoke in her ear. “Any time, call me.”

Janine gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and smiled as she pulled away. “Thanks.”

Egon watched her leave the Firehouse, his heart aching to hold her again. “I love you,” he whispered.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Egon and Janine grow closer.

Later that night, everyone was sound asleep, except Egon. He had spent the past three hours tossing and turning. His mind kept replaying the events of earlier that day. Mostly, his imagination was haunting him, giving him thoughts of what life would be like without Janine. What would her life be like without him? Finally, he sighed heavily, got up and quietly sneaked out of the bunk room. 

Egon started getting things together to fix himself some hot cocoa. Just as he was preparing to start, the phone in the rec room rang. He ran to pick it up before it woke the others.

“Ghostb…,” he started but was interrupted. 

“Egon? It’s Janine,” the timid female voice on the other end said softly.

“Are you ok?” Egon asked worriedly.

“You said to call…,”

“Yes! What’s happened?”

“I just can’t sleep. Things keep going through my mind. Those horrible bat creatures, the earthquakes, everything. It was very frightening, and I was so worried,” Janine explained, her voice becoming less audible.

“Janine, please listen to me. Now isn’t the time to go through the details of what we experienced, but I have no doubt that what you went through was just as horrifying,” Egon spoke gently. “The important thing is that it’s over; we fixed it and everyone is safe. There’s nothing to be afraid of now.”

There was silence on the other end. Egon became more worried. 

“Janine? Are you there?”

Just then, he heard her take in a deep breath and began sobbing. He wished so badly that he was there to hold her, to comfort her. 

“Janine, please breathe slowly,” he encouraged. “Shhh,” he hoped his voice was enough to help calm her. He just repeated “shhhhh” over and over until finally, he could hear her calming down. 

“I’m sorry,” she apologized.

“Don’t be; it’s perfectly fine.”

“I just … I was worried … so scared that … all of you guys … mostly you … were … that something bad was going to … that it already had …” she burst into another round of tears. 

“Janine, I’m going to come over there,” Egon said matter-of-factly. “You shouldn’t be alone right now.”

“No, you don’t have to,” she began. 

“Yes, I do,” he insisted. “I’ll be there as quickly as possible.” 

He heard the click of the phone before he even said goodbye. He rushed back to the bunk room, grabbing his clothes and changing in the bathroom. He wrote a quick note and left it on his bed for the others to see in the morning. 

*******************************  
Janine was sitting on the couch in her living room wrapped up in a blanket, silently crying. She couldn’t explain why she was so upset. The guys had experienced many other things that were just as dangerous. They never expected to survive the Gozer incident, but they did. All she knew was for some reason, this one rocked her to her core. 

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the knock on her door. 

“Janine? It’s Egon,” he said through the door. 

She didn’t say anything; she just ran to the door and opened it. 

Egon was startled to see her standing there, still in her pajamas with a blanket wrapped around her. Her eyes were red and puffy. 

Without a word, she stepped aside and gestured for him to enter. He walked in, closing the door behind him. She had returned to her spot on the couch, her head down staring at her hands in her lap. 

He cautiously sat down beside her. “Janine? Talk to me; what’s going on?” He asked softly. 

“It doesn’t make any sense,” she began. “We’ve been through worse things than this. Why am I so screwed up now?”

“I’m not sure, but we’ve all been affected to certain levels,” Egon admitted. 

Janine looked at him, somewhat skeptical. “Oh? And how have you been affected?”

He reached over and took her hands in his, looking her directly in the eyes. “It made me realize that I have regrets in my life, and I need to fix that before it truly is too late.”

Janine frowned, not understanding what he meant. “Egon, what are you talking about? What regrets?”

“One main regret.” He took a deep breath, released it and began: “I’ve fallen in love with you, Janine. I don’t know if you feel the same way. I ...I mean … you’ve been flirting with me for a while, but I don’t know if it’s just flirting or more?”

Janine’s eyes filled with fresh tears. “Egon, I’ve been in love with you for a while, too! It started out as just flirting, but it quickly evolved into love.” A huge smile brightened her entire face. 

He breathed a sigh of relief, pulling her close into a hug. Janine wrapped her arms around him, too. Egon could feel that she was trembling. He pulled back to look at her. 

“Are you cold or upset?”

“A little bit of both,” she replied. “But I’m not as upset now. Thank you.”

Egon smiled back, feeling a bit nervous. “It’s … Umm ...a bit early for breakfast.” He cleared his throat. “Would you … like to have … ahem … dinner … with me .. tonight?”

“ Yes, I’d love to!” Janine replied, her cheeks rosy. 

“Good! Well, umm, why don’t you try to get some sleep? I’ll be here on the couch if you need anything,” Egon said. 

“Oh Egon, you can’t sleep on this couch!” 

“What do you suggest? I don’t think you have an extra bedroom?” Egon replied, grinning and arching one eyebrow. 

“Oh no, I mean, well …,” Janine stammered, nervously laughing. “I didn’t mean … you know …,” she took a deep breath. 

Egon smiled, happy that he was able to get the upper hand, for once. 

“I’ll go get some blankets and a pillow,” Janine continued. She walked quickly to her room to retrieve the items. 

She returned and made the couch a cozy bed for Egon to use. “You don’t have to do this, you know? I’ll be ok.”

“You were quite upset earlier. I don’t want to take the chance of you getting upset like that again and no one here to be with you,” Egon explained. “Besides, I left a note for the guys; they won’t expect me back until tomorrow.”

Janine rolled her eyes. “Oh great! Peter will have a field day with that!”

“You let me handle him,” Egon said, his hands resting on her shoulders. “For now, you rest. Don’t worry about anything. And I’m right here if you should need anything.” He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. 

“I’ll be able to sleep better now,” she purred. “You’re here with me, we love each other, all you guys are safe; everything is right with the world!” She tiptoed and gave him a peck on the cheek before going to her room.

Egon got situated on the couch and turned off the lamp. He still felt a bit uneasy about Janine’s state of mind, but he thought it might be too soon for him to stay in the bedroom with her. He desperately wanted to hold her, but for now, he would have to be satisfied on the couch. He doesn’t normally move that quickly with a woman. And Janine is a very special woman; he didn’t want to do anything to mess it up. 

A couple of hours later, Egon was awakened by a tap on his shoulder and someone whispering his name. His eyes flew open to see Janine knelt on the floor beside the couch, tears streaming down her face. 

He sat up and turned on the lamp. “Janine! What’s wrong?!”

“I don’t know for sure,” she said, her voice raspy from crying. “I can’t shake this feeling…,”

“Earlier today while you guys were trying to take care of the situation with Jeremy, I could’ve sworn I heard your voice.”

“What did I say?”

“All I heard was my name, but in your voice. And now, I keep hearing it over and over,” Janine said, her voice trembling with fear. “I’m afraid … something really bad … is gonna happen.”

Egon smiled. “Is that what’s been bothering you?”

She nodded, fresh tears running down her face.

“We really do need to test your psychic abilities,” he said light heartedly. “When we were on the roof starting the self destruct mechanism on the proton packs, I looked out over the city and said your name. It was more of a mumble, but I did say it. It was my final goodbye or what we thought would be final at the time.”

“Why do I keep hearing it?” Janine asked, anxiety still in her voice.

“Probably because I want to be in the same room with you, but I didn’t think it was appropriate at this point. My mother raised me to be a gentleman, and I prefer to court you properly first before … you know,” he started to blush.

Janine stopped crying and embraced Egon in a tight hug. “That’s one of the many things I love about you; you’re not the ‘love em and leave em’ type of guy.”

“I most certainly am not,” he replied. 

“You know, we can share the bed if you still want to be close,” Janine said casually. “We’re both adults; nothing has to happen.”

Egon could’ve sworn his heart stopped for a second. Oh! Well …. umm ….,”

Janine stood, taking Egon’s hand and tugging at him to stand, too. “Bring the pillow. I’ll sleep under the covers, and you can sleep on top of them. Bring the blanket for you to use.”

Egon thought that was a reasonable solution, so he agreed. He gathered the items and followed Janine to her bedroom. She returned to her side of the bed and got comfortable under the covers. Egon laid down beside her on top of the covers. They faced each other, him allowing Janine to snuggle up against him, her head on his shoulder while he wrapped his arm around her. They slept peacefully through the night. 

**********************************  
The next morning at the Firehouse, the guys were surprised to see Egon missing. 

“He left a note!” Ray said, reaching for it and reading aloud:

“I couldn’t sleep. Janine called still upset. I’ll be with her at her place. See you in the morning, Egon.”

Winston and ray grinned.

Peter laughed out loud. “He’s not gonna get any sleep at her place either!”

They all laughed and headed for the kitchen. 

A few hours later, Egon and Janine arrived at the firehouse. She put away her purse in the desk drawer. Egon leaned over and they shared a quick kiss on the lips. 

“Aha! Well, well, well ….,” Peter teased as he came downstairs. “What’s the lovebirds been up to?” He leaned his butt on the edge of Janine’s desk, giving her and Egon both a sly wink. 

Janine’s face became as red as her hair, but Egon remained cool and collected. He didn’t even blush. 

“Nothing happened, Peter. I simply stayed with her last night because she called, very upset.” Egon turned to look at Janine. “I’ll speak with Ray about getting you tested for psychic abilities.”

“Thanks. I think that’ll help,” Janine replied. 

Peter straightened and stood up, suddenly concerned. “Wait, What’s happened?! Why does Janine need to be tested?!”

“You said you wanted to have a session with Janine,” Egon said to Peter. “Why don’t you discuss it with her in private?” He gave Janine a loving smile and went upstairs to the lab. 

Peter looked at Janine. “Come on, Red. Let’s go to my office.”

Janine sat in one of the client chairs in front of Peter’s desk. He leaned up against the front of it. He casually put his hands in his pockets.

“So, tell me what happened here while we were dealing with Jeremy.”

“Well, it got pretty creepy. Slimer was with me, but he was scared, too. We looked out the windows; we knew not to go outside. Those bat creatures might’ve gotten us. But, the strangest thing happened not long before it ended. It’s what’s really been bothering me.”

“It’s what Egon was talking about?”

Janine nodded, tears forming. Peter sat down in the chair beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. 

“Please, tell me.”

She took a deep breath before beginning. “While I was staring out the window, I could’ve sworn I heard Egon call my name. But when I turned thinking I would see him, there was no one there. I thought it was my imagination. But then last night, I kept hearing it over and over. When I told Egon about it, he admitted that he had muttered my name to himself before the self destruct mechanism was started. And maybe the reason I kept hearing it was because he wanted to stay in the same room with me.”

Peter’s eyes had widened when Janine mentioned what Egon had said. Even more so when he found out that Janine had somehow heard it. Then, he smiled - a genuine, warm smile.

“Janine, I think you might be more psychic than we think. But, as far as you hearing Egon’s voice call your name? This isn’t a scientific explanation; Hell, it’s not even a medical explanation.”

Janine looked confused, even worried. “Then what is it?”

Peter smiled bigger. “You two are soulmates! You’re meant to be together. I’ve heard of twins who can feel each other’s pain or know when the other one is hurt or upset. It’s because they share a special bond, a connection. You and Spengs have that same connection!”

Janine started crying happy tears. “So I’m not crazy?”

Peter laughed lightly. “Well, you’d have to be somewhat touched to work for us, but nah. You’re ok.”

Janine threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. She then jumped up and got ready to return to work. “Thanks, Dr. V.”

“No problem,” Peter replied. “Just one more question?”

“Go ahead!” Janine’s voice carried over the filing cabinet from her desk. 

“If you stopped hearing Egon’s voice, guess that means he slept in the bed with you since you said he wanted to stay in the same room with you?” 

Janine could hear him grinning in his words that he had spoken. Her eyes narrowed. “Nothing happened. Two mature adults can do that, ya know?”

Peter laughed. “That’s a girl. Give him just enough to make him curious! He’ll be eating out of your hand in no time!” 

Peter was laughing too hard to see the phone book that was heading his way.


End file.
